Affiliate disclosure: This review contains affiliate links. If you sign up through one of these links, we receive a commission at no extra cost to you. This does not affect our review or verdict.
TRIAL OVERVIEW
Quick Summary
Introduction
First Class Racing is a horse racing tipping service from Mel Gee, who has been providing tips through Bet Chat since 2021.
Mel takes a particularly selective approach, focusing only on Class 1 races and typically providing around 2–3 bets per month.
There are some potential advantages to concentrating on these higher-profile races. They generally attract more betting activity, which should mean better liquidity and a greater chance of being able to obtain something close to the advised price.
The low betting volume also caught my attention. Rather than looking for daily action, Mel appears to be waiting for what he considers the strongest opportunities.
The service has reported some impressive long-term results, including a high strike rate and relatively low drawdown, so I was interested to see whether that performance would hold up during my own trial.
In this review, I’ll be tracking First Class Racing over the longer term to see how the tips perform and whether the relatively high membership fee can be justified.
Advertised Stats
Based on £100 stakes
Profit
Strike Rate
ROI
Bank Growth
Putting it to the Test
Mel recommends a starting bank of 20 points, reflecting the historically high strike rate and relatively low reported drawdowns.
For example, somebody using a £1,000 betting bank would be staking £50 per point.
The difficulty here is the cost of the service. At the time of writing, annual membership is £599.97, so subscribers need to generate a reasonable betting profit before they even cover the subscription fee.
That makes staking particularly important.
Based on the historical profit advertised by the service, I estimated that a betting bank of approximately £2,000 or more would be needed for the numbers to begin looking worthwhile.
Of course, historical results are no guarantee that the same level of profitability will continue, which is why I am tracking the service for a full 12 months.
How First Class Racing Works
First Class Racing provides horse racing selections covering Class 1 races in the UK. Selections can include both straight win bets and each-way bets, with the staking advice supplied alongside each tip.
Each recommendation includes the horse, advised odds and suggested stake, so there isn’t much work required from the subscriber beyond placing the bet.
Tips are distributed by both email and a private Telegram group.
- Time of tips: Morning
- Bet volume: Average 2-3 tips per month
- Advised starting bank: 20 points
Trial Results
I tracked First Class Racing for 12 months, from May 2023 until April 2024. Over that period there were just 34 bets, illustrating quite how selective the service is.
The final result was a profit of 2.13 points, equivalent to £213 using £100 per point stakes.
There were some encouraging signs within the results.
The overall strike rate during my trial was 55.88%, which was actually slightly higher than the 50% strike rate advertised by the service.
There were also several particularly strong months. October produced 3.43 points of profit from just four bets, while August returned 2.09 points.
However, the low volume works both ways.
September contained only three bets and all three lost, resulting in a 3 point loss. April also finished 1.25 points down despite three of the four bets being successful.
This demonstrates why strike rate alone doesn’t determine profitability. The odds and staking of individual selections can have a significant impact on the overall result.
Final Verdict
There are certainly things I liked about First Class Racing.
The service is highly selective, the strike rate during my trial was impressive and, most importantly, I did finish the 12-month test in profit. However, the financial side is difficult to overlook.
At the time of my review, annual membership cost £599.97, while my independently tracked bets generated only 2.13 points of profit.
Even at fairly substantial £100 stakes, that would have produced £213 — nowhere near enough to cover the subscription. The very small number of bets also makes it difficult to judge the long-term edge of the service from my trial alone.
For those reasons, I don’t think the results justify an Approved rating. Equally, given that the selections did produce a profit and the strike rate was strong, I don’t think a negative verdict would be appropriate either.
My final verdict for First Class Racing is therefore Neutral.
If you’re still interested in this service and feel the low-volume approach suits your betting style – click here to get started.
NEUTRAL
